5.5 magnitude earthquake shakes lower North Island

Photo / file

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck the lower North Island around 2.30am this morning.

The earthquake occurred 15km southwest of Pongaroa, a small township in the Tararua District 200km northeast of Wellington.

GNS data showed the earthquake was 24km deep, with a Mercalli intensity of 7.

A smaller, magnitude 3.8 earthquake occurred 20km north of Castlepoint just after 12am.

A police spokesman said there had been no initial reports of damage.

"It was a good jolt," Heidi Hill from Pongaroa Hotel said. "I heard it before I felt it."

She said the hotel was fine.

People 200km away from the epicentre felt the quake.

"...It felt like the epicentre was here in Paraparaumu Beach," Miles Lacey tweeted.

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